Summer Of '77
by deanangst
Summary: Summertime downtime is '77.


Summer of '77

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my love of the guys.  
Rating: G  
Summary: Summer fun  
Special Note: I want to say Thank You to Juliet for being so kind to beta this story. All mistakes are truly my own. 

-

The red '65 Mustang convertible sped along the LA coast line. He had one hand on the wheel, the other was busy pressing the button on the 8 track player that BA has installed for him the night before. The sounds of Blitzkrieg Bop came from the speakers and Face sang along with the Ramones as he drove. With hair bleached blond from the summer sun and a pair of cheap sunglasses, he resembled the thousands of other kids out to have some fun. 

Face had everything planned and the team had their instructions. They would need to work together to pull everything off in time. The young man couldn't remember being this excited about anything in his life. BA was to pick up the transportation at 5:00pm, a red 1968 GMC pickup truck. Once he had the truck, BA would swing by Hannibal's to pick up the Col. and the prearranged survival gear. Face would spring Murdock, then head back to the LT.'s current apartment to meet Hannibal and BA.. 

To say he was shocked when he saw the 'transportation' was an understatement. It wasn't exactly what he expected from the conman, but this was Face's surprise so who was he to judge. At least it wasn't an airplane, still BA looked at the old truck with doubt. The tail gate was rusted out and the hood had a major crack down the center. The crack was so bad the steel had begun to turn up on the edges. 

"Are you sure this is the right truck?" BA asked, the uncertainty was clear in his voice, as if he were afraid he was the one being conned. 

The owner smiled. "Didn't your momma teach you not to judge a book by its cover?" 

"Yeah man, I remember something like that." BA nodded, smiling at the memory of his mother. 

"Tem said he needed something that could handle a good deal of weight. I know this make of truck is only a half ton, but she's set up to haul produce. I'll guarantee she can haul three times that weight without budging." Tossing the keys to BA, the man turned to go. "I'll need her back here by 5:00am Monday morning. Tell your friend thanks for his help with my suppliers, the kid's saving me a fortune." With that the man walked away, never looking back. 

Hannibal was nailing sheets of plywood onto the wooden frame when he heard the rumble of a motor. He looked up in time to see the old truck pull into the parking lot. Tossing the hammer onto the finished platform, he waited for BA to give him a hand. 

"Have any trouble?" BA asked, smirk firmly planted on his face, as he took in the destruction that lay before him. It was clear from the pile of 'scrap' wood that Hannibal hadn't mastered the art of measure twice cut once. 

"I guess we'll find out in a minute. Help me get this baby into the bed." Hannibal pulled on a pair of work gloves while BA dropped the tailgate; together the men wrestled the platform into the truck bed. The foundation sat center of the bed reaching from the head to the tail and was the same height as the wheel housing. The platform itself covered the entire bed, end to end, side to side. Once the platform was in place they removed the full sized mattress from the guest bedroom in Hannibal's apartment along with pillows and blankets. 

Murdock knew something was up. It wasn't like Faceman didn't spring him on a regular basis. It was just that he usually had a little advance warning. A plan or at least a phone call. That wasn't the case tonight. The pilot was in the middle of a game of fetch with Billy when Face and a somewhat frantic nurse entered his room. Murdock had been so startled that even now he didn't know what scam Face had pulled. All that mattered now was the why.  
Twisting sideways in his seat so he could face his friend Murdock began his interrogation. "Come on Facey...you can tell me. Please please please please tell me what's going on." 

"No way Murdock, it's a surprise. Besides I promised the guys I wouldn't tell ya until we were all together." 

Murdock was about to begin again when he saw the department store bag on the back seat. Reaching for the item he asked, "What'cha got in the bag?" 

"Oh that, I got you a shirt." Face replied. 

Jerking his hand away from the bag as if he'd been burned, Murdock looked at his friend. "Aw Face you really shouldn't have done that..and I mean that literally. Me and my tee shirts are doing just fine on our own." 

"Hey Murdock I'm hurt...are you saying you don't like my taste in clothing." Face bit the inside of his lip to keep from laughing at Murdock's expression. 

Murdock chose to keep quite. 

Pulling into the lot, Face saw Hannibal and BA were already waiting. Murdock hopped out of the car before Face had it in park and headed over to his friends. Eyeing the truck and gear, he looked at his friends. "We're going camping? That's the big secret?" 

"Close but no cigar." Hannibal replied, waving his stogie in the air. BA and Face groaned at the pun. 

"Maybe this will help." Face said, tossing Murdock the bag that had been in the back seat. 

The look on Murdock's face, when he open the bag, was worth a million dollars to Face. With eyes as big as saucers, Murdock pulled the tee shirts from the bag. There were two, one black the other a deep blue. 

"Star Wars! Faceman, these are cool." Looking at the truck, it began to sink in. Murdock remembered telling Face about going to the drive in movies with his grandparents as a kid. How they would sit in the back of the old work truck and watch John Wayne save the day. He also remembered Face admitting that he'd never been to the drive in as a kid. Looking at truck then at Face hopefully, he gave a whoop of joy when the younger man nodded. 

"Come on guys, we need to go if we're going to make it in time." Hannibal clapped Murdock on the shoulder before heading to the passenger side of the truck. BA was already seated behind the wheel. 

"We can't go yet Col. Faceyman forgot the most important thing." Murdock said cryptically. Placing his arm across Face's shoulder, he turned his friend toward the apartment building. Hannabil watched as the confusion on his LT's face change to understanding. 

"No way Murdock... there is no why you're getting me..." The whine in Face's voice could be heard as the apartment door closed. 

It was after midnight when BA pulled the truck back into the parking lot of Face's apartment building. The movie had been so good that they had stayed for the second showing. Still a little stiff from sitting for so long Hannibal stretched, as he walked around to the back of the truck and smiled at the sight that greeted him. 

Face and Murdock lay on their stomachs, eyes closed in slumber. The adrenalin and sugar high of the movie and candy had worn off and they had crashed hard. It was now that Hannibal allowed himself to smile at his XO's state of dress. Gone were the jeans and polo he'd worn that afternoon. They had been replaced by what Murdock had insisted was proper drive in attire, pajama pants with a matching Star Wars T-shirt. Hannibal shook his head. He'd asked Murdock what the deal was. Murdock had explained that it was in case they fell asleep before they made it home. Something Face had denied would happen; he was an adult after all, not a kid. Still Face had relented and worn the outfit just to make Murdock happy. Hannibal shook his head only Face could make the look work for him. Murdock, well that was another story... maybe it was the fact that he was wearing Face's pants which were not only a couple of inches to short but also a little on the tight side, either way Hannibal knew he couldn't be comfortable. 

BA spoke up from beside the Col., startling the older man from his thoughts. "We could just leave them there." He suggested. 

"Yeah, but with our luck, one of the neighbors will call the cops." 

After several unsuccessful attempts to wake the 'kids', BA and Hannabil each wrestled one of the figures from the back of the truck and into the apartment where they were dumped unceremoniously onto the king sized bed. Face gave a slight moan, as he bounced when he hit the bed but didn't wake. Murdock's only response was to flip over onto his stomach. 

Shaking their heads, Hannibal and BA left the room pausing to turn off the lights before heading for their own homes. They were almost to the front door when they heard it. The unmistakable sound of Face laughing, faintly at first but growing louder by the second. 

"Sush Face... they're gonna hear you and know we were faking." 

"Go to sleep you two...don't make me come in there." Hannibal called in his best father voice. The laughter grew worse when the two in question replied "Yes Sir." Hannibal and BA joined in laughter, as they pulled the door closed behind them. 

Fini


End file.
